Birding along Sabaki river mouth
On the mudflats of the Sabaki, a strong sun beats down so fierce that it makes the water over the sand sparkle.
On the bridge above, cars and matatus speed over the estuary - Kenya’s biggest - unaware of the stunning vistas below and of its importance as an Important Bird Area or IBA.
Standing on the shores of the river that starts as the Athi near Nairobi and joins the Tsavo to flow into the Indian Ocean, the landscape is a visual delight of shifting sand dunes, green mangroves and golden sands against a canvas of the bluest of skies.
Colours and forms fill the natural scape with flocks of birds on the water’s edge.
Pretending to be no birder but more into landscapes, I ask Fleur Ng’weno, Kenya’s leading birder about the Sabaki river mouth. It turns about to be an interesting discussion centred on the muddy river flowing into the clear blue ocean.
“Sabaki is a “must-visit” for birders for many reasons,” asserts Fleur, “It’s a place to see many water, shore and sea birds. Even flamingoes!”
For birders, it’s even more of a must-do because it hosts more than 1 per cent of the biogeographic (the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, and in what abundance) population of bird species. These include the Sooty Gull, Saunders’s Tern, Lesser Crested Tern, Madagascar Pratincole (a migrant from the South, and is usually seen from May to Sept).
This is what makes Sabaki an Important Bird Area.”
I feel it’s important to include some serious lingo because Kenya is a hotspot for birding which both national and international visitors can appreciate and be inspired to visit.
“At times, Sabaki hosts more than 50 per cent of the biogeographic population of Saunders’s Tern,” continues Fleur.
“Although the this bird is not threatened at the moment, it is important to note that all seabirds are threatened, because of loss of seashore habitat and pollution of the oceans.”
“The terns are spectacular. They feed out at sea during the day, so only a few are seen during a morning or afternoon visit,” explains Fleur.
The best time to see the flocks is during a full moon count. Colin Jackson of A Rocha Kenya, a Christian nature-based organisation based in Watamu narrates a recent full moon night walk on the estuary.
“On 30 January, we did the monthly night time count of roosting terns on Sabaki River Mouth,”. It’s done every full moon to take advantage of the maximum light at night. Anyone who is interested in birding is welcome to join.
“This time numbers exceeded anything I’ve seen before - except perhaps the very first time we discovered the tern roost a few years ago,” gushes Colin.
As we walked along the river bank, some 500-600 metres from the mud flats, we could hear this intense chattering and as we reached the edge of the flats where the mangroves have started to grow along the bank, we saw our first ‘flock’ of Saunders’ Terns.
In that one flock, we estimated 35,000 birds and as we went further out on the mud, the sheer number of birds started to hit home.
They were packed in and stretching right along in front of the mangroves, clearly sheltering from the strong wind. Every now and then, a section of the flock would take off - and it would look like smoke swirling around in the moonlight. It was incredible.
"Overall, on that Saturday night, there were almost 500,000 birds roosting at Sabaki River Mouth. It was a truly amazing sight,” estimates Colin.
Sabaki River Mouth is five kilometres north of Malindi and a two-hour drive north of Mombasa. Malindi t is home to some of the richest and most diverse habitats in the whole of Kenya – 10 per cent of Kenya’s Important Bird Areas, considered internationally important for bird conservation, are found within a 30 km radius of Malindi.
One of my favourite places to stay is at the A Rocha Mwamba Field Study centre in Watamu, near Malindi, from where you can visit other hotspots like Mida Creek, the turtle centre, the fascinating Arabuko-Sokoke forest, Hell’s Kitchen, the Dakatcha woodlands and, of course, the Gede ruins and the landmark synonymous with Malindi, Vasco da Gama’s pillar besides making time for its intoxicating nightlife.
A short walk away, indulge in a luxury health retreat for some yoga and massages.
Email: [email protected]
http://rajuafrica.blogspot.com
